Energy Minister Peter Collier has welcomed today’s launch of the $73.5million Perth Solar City program.
He joined Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett in recognising Perth as Australia’s seventh and final demonstration Solar City.
The program, which will be run by a consortium led by Western Power, aims to encourage industry, business, governments and the general community to change the way they produce, use and save energy.
It would include the installation of smart meters, solar hot water systems and photovoltaics and be delivered to more than 106,000 homes within the six-member councils of the Eastern Metropolitan Regional Council.
These include the Town of Bassendean; cities of Bayswater, Belmont and Swan; and the shires of Kalamunda and Mundaring.
“This four-year project is an excellent example of how different levels of government, business and the community can work co-operatively to show how we can be smarter about how we use energy,” Mr Collier said.
“The information collected will assist in developing more sustainable energy solutions both now and in the future.”
The Minister said the project would also assess the merits of a range of new technologies, such as the use of smart meters, widely used around the world to help consumers, retailers and distributors manage the use of energy across the network.
Mr Collier said the environmental and financial impacts of solar energy generation and the impacts of integrating such systems into the electricity grid would also be considered as part of the project.
“The State Government has committed to the national target of 20 per cent renewable energy by 2020, so this project will be one of many steps to achieve this important goal,” he said.
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